


On the River Styx

by TheFunk



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ancient Greek Religion & Lore Fusion, Angst, Awkward Conversations, But it's not graphic or anything, Child Death, Death, Drowning, Fluff, Gen, Getting to Know Each Other, Kim Jongdae | Chen is a sweetheart, Kyungsoo is Charon the Ferryman, M/M, Mentions of Death, Slow Burn, Spirits, Underworld, ok so JD is dead but he's dead the entire time and is a spirit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:34:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26509057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFunk/pseuds/TheFunk
Summary: Kyungsoo has been the ferryman of the Underworld for 400 years and ever day is pretty much the same. That is, until a spirit named Jongdae refuses to leave his boat.
Relationships: Do Kyungsoo | D.O/Kim Jongdae | Chen
Comments: 23
Kudos: 58
Collections: Shall we Chen? Fictional Fest First Round





	On the River Styx

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: A is Charon, the ferryman of Hades. His every day job is to carry the should of the deceased from the world of the living to that of the dead. His routine has been uneventful for centuries – except one day, one of the souls, B, refuses to step out of the boat.
> 
> WARNINGS: Note there are mentions of death (one of a child), blood and wounds, but none of them are explicit, but just know if that bothers you I would suggest not reading this!
> 
> I really enjoyed writing this and I hope you enjoyed it!

Every week is the same for Kyungsoo. He wakes up, gets in his boat, takes a coin from a soul, ferries it down the river to the afterlife, rinse and repeat, then on Sundays he stays home. It’s an easy enough gig, and one that he’s proud to have. He’s not the original Charon, no, the original ferryman had long retired, and now Kyungsoo was the seventh. Officially he was called Charon, but to most who knew him, they still knew him as Kyungsoo. When he was born, he was a minor god, even more minor than a minor god even. He was born the god of undeserved blame, a small thing to be a god of, but something Kyungsoo was proud of. And then he was given a promotion of sorts, gaining more territory, and becoming the god of shadows. And then it was the god of doom and then the god of peaceful death and then finally, Charon, the ferryman of Hades.

He’s only been doing it for around 400 years, but he’s been having a pretty good time so far. One of the things he learned early on was that if the spirits wanted to make conversation, that he should. Kyungsoo wasn’t used to speaking too much but he figured if the spirits needed someone to talk to before they spent eternity standing in a boring field, then that was the least he could give them. He had the entire way back to shore to be silent and alone.

Every spirit was unique in their own way, but after 400 years they all started to sort of blend together. There were only so many ways a person could die after all. Some wanted to talk about their deaths, while others seemed to be using him to get their minds off of things. One spirit had spent the entire boat ride talking about his cats, and how much he would miss them, while one woman spent the entire time explaining her murder to him in excruciating detail. She didn’t need to do that; he already knew how she had died.

Being one of the gods of the dead, (there were many of them, there were so many facets of death) Kyungsoo could tell how a person had died just by looking at them. He didn’t like to bring it up though, he felt it insensitive. And if someone didn’t know, they sometimes liked the not knowing, too fragile to hear they had been betrayed or unlucky. But if they asked, he told them. There was no use lying to spirits. In about 300 years or so in the Fields of Asphodel they would forget all about him, his ferry, and even their own death and the life they had lived before. It had made him sad when he was young and newer to the job but now he knew, it was just how the world worked.

He pushed his ferry down the river, oar cutting easily through the water. He could see where the color of the water changed and he gripped the oar tighter. The water he was in was clear but up ahead he could see the green and murky waters that signaled the change in dimensions. As soon as the stern of his boat hit the change in the water he pushed harder, fighting against the resistance of the veil between the living and the dead. With one last hard push his boat passed through the veil. He let out a breath and felt the tightness leave his chest. No matter how many times he did it the veil still pushed back against him. He hoped that the longer he was doing this job, the easier it would be for him to cross through.

He sailed through the swampy waters of the Acheron river. Despite it being the land of the living, the air always smelled better in the land of the dead. He didn’t know why the air around the river Styx smelled so much better, but he didn’t really care. The less time he spent in the land of the living the better he felt. He landed on the banks of the river and walked to the front of the boat. In front of him on the shore was a long line of people waiting for him. He held his hand out and the spirit in front of him handed him a baseball bat. Kyungsoo sighed but allowed the man to get in the boat, ignoring his slightly chemical smell. Back before when the original Charon ferried souls, they would give him golden drachmas, the currency of ancient Greece. But now in modern times, people were less likely to be buried with money. The Charon three before him had asked Hades and he made a change to the rules, and now spirits were allowed to pay them with whatever they had been buried with, or something significant to their death. Kyungsoo would have preferred that those who couldn’t pay would be left on the shore, but that left billions of people without a ride, and apparently that wasn’t a good thing.

The man sat silently on the bench at the end of the boat and Kyungsoo began to push down the river. He could hear the moaning of souls as they went down the river. They were a mix of languages, but Kyungsoo could understand them all the same. Their voices carried on the fog to his ears, but he ignored them. They weren’t calling out to him. No, they knew better than that. Even if he brought them back to the shore, they would still be dead. He wasn’t the one that could give him their lives back, that was up to Hades, and Hades wasn’t listening either. Hearing their cries of sorrow and pleas for help always left a pit in his stomach, so he tried to not hear them. Occasionally he could hear them, but he hoped that one day he would get used to it.

The man in his boat cleared his throat, “It was the cancer, right?”

Kyungsoo nodded and the man nodded back at him. It was silent in the boat again and Kyungsoo continued to row the boat.

“I had been hoping to beat it, you know?” the man asked. “I thought that I was gonna be able to go back and play again, maybe finally bat .500.”

Kyungsoo turned and looked in the man’s eyes. People always said that the eyes were the windows to the soul, and they were right. With just a peek into his eyes Kyungsoo knew everything he needed to know, and everything he didn’t care to know. The man was a Canadian and a major league baseball player, the bat he had given to Kyungsoo suddenly making sense. He had bright red hair and sad eyes, and suddenly Kyungsoo wished the man had beaten his cancer.

“I’m sorry.”

The man smiled at him, “You don’t have to apologize, it’s not your fault. You didn’t give me the cancer, did you?”

“Of course not,” Kyungsoo said.

The man nodded and sat in silence for a minute, and Kyungsoo had thought that was it. But after a little while of silence, the man spoke up again, though this time his voice was thinner, more fragile.

“Is my little boy okay?”

Kyungsoo could see the little boy that the man was speaking of, the man’s son. He closed his eyes, no longer rowing and letting the boat coast. He gripped the baseball bat and felt an energy surge through him.

“He’s okay. He was sad of course, but you and your wife did a good job explaining your sickness to him. And Samantha is being very strong for your son. He’s going to miss you, but he loves you.”

The man put his head in his hands and Kyungsoo could hear him begin to weep. Kyungsoo knew that they wouldn’t be talking again for the rest of the ride, so Kyungsoo picked up the oar and began to row again. They were almost to the bank of the river when the man finally finished crying. They stopped with a bump on the shore and the man stood with shaking legs. Kyungsoo held his hand out and the man held it tight as he stepped safely onto the ground. As soon as the man touched down, his solid body turned to spirit form, a wisp of the man that had been sitting in his boat just seconds before. The man thanked him and floated off towards the judgment area.

Kyungsoo grabbed the baseball bat and placed it in the never-ending chest at the back of the boat. It’s where he kept all of the payment he received. He used to have a coin purse that he kept in his robes, but with less and less people paying in drachmas, he had been forced to adapt. He locked the chest and picked up the oar, rowing back to the swampy Acheron River. It seemed like in no time at all he was back to the veil between the dimensions, pushing with all his might to get through. He did so with another chest-loosening pop and he sailed easily through the swampy water. He rowed his boat, feeling the slight breeze ruffle through his hair. He used to have it buzzed short, but he’d been growing it out ever since he became Charon. He found that the slightly longer hair made him seem more approachable and that soldiers were less likely to be sent into unwanted memories at the sight of him.

He docked the boat at the shore and held his hand out for the next spirit. The hand that grabbed his was almost skeletal in nature. He knew that that was the way it had been in the time just before death. The woman that looked at him was dark skinned with a bald head, her features gaunt and sunken into her skull. Despite this, Kyungsoo knew that she had once been beautiful, her cheeks plump and eyes shimmery. His heart ached, for he knew she still had so much life she could have lived, so much joy she could have brought the world. She was barely twenty-four when she passed. She gripped his hand tight as he helped her settle onto her seat. She removed the necklace from her neck and pooled it into his awaiting hand. The necklace was ornate, beautiful coral beads arranged in a way that when worn, it would also cover her shoulders like little discs, the rest completely covering her chest. Kyungsoo could recognize a wedding necklace when he saw one. He placed the necklace in the chest and pushed away from the shore.

The woman sat silent as they coasted down the river, her eyes watching the banks of the river as they floated past. She slipped her fingers into the water and let them form trails behind them. Kyungsoo made sure that he rowed evenly so as not to rock the boat. she would have one last peaceful journey until she was subjected to the constant wailing of the other souls. He could give her this at least.

They sailed quietly along the river until the rivers switched and through even that she kept quiet. He rowed steady and she pulled her hand from the water, fingertips shedding lingering drops on the inside of his boat. He allowed his mind to wander and thought about what the woman must have been like before she got sick. Before she told anyone that would listen that something was wrong and that she needed help, and before they told her that they didn’t know what was wrong, only that it was ruthless and would take her quick. He figured she could tell him if she wanted, but it appeared that she would end up being one of his more mysterious riders.

He docked gently and held his hand out for the woman. but this time her hand hesitated to grab his.

“Thank you…” her voice trailed off, as if uncertain as to what to call him.

“Kyungsoo,” he said.

“I’m Adaku. Thank you for taking me across safely, Kyungsoo. Is it… what’s it like.”

He paused to consider, “For most, it’s incredibly boring and mind-numbing until you forget who and what you were, but for you,” she took his hand and his skin tingled at her touch, “but for you, I would try Elysium.”

He could tell with the way that his skin reacted to her touch that she was one of the blessed dead, that she had lived a righteous and good life just as he had hoped she had. She smiled at him and for the first time since she boarded his boat, he could see the glimmer in her eyes.

“Really?” she asked.

He nodded, “Just go that way and you’ll find the judges. They’ll tell you where to go.”

Adaku smiled at him again and let him lead her out of the boat. She touched the ground and turned to silver mist, her path to the judges glowing in front of her. He watched her go for a few steps before he pushed off and made his way through the Styx waters. 

When he finally landed at the banks of the Acheron river, the spirit that greeted him was different than the others. Usually when he came to the shores, the dead were frowning or blank-faced, many of them cried when they saw him. But this one, this one smiled. It was a wide, cheery smile too, the kind that you would see on a young child's birthday when their mom brings out their cake. It sent a tingle down Kyungsoo’s spine. Who was this man, and why was he so eager to come along?

Nevertheless, Kyungsoo held his hand out for the man, who grinned and grabbed it. The touch of his skin was electric, and Kyungsoo resisted the urge to pull away. The man stepped into the boat, hand still holding Kyungsoo’s.

“Oooh, what a gentleman, thank you,” the man said.

His voice was melodic even as he teased Kyungsoo. His eyes scrunched shut with his smile and Kyungsoo couldn’t find it within himself to be annoyed. He nodded his head at the man and held his hand out. The smiling man took his hat off his head and Kyungsoo vaguely read “DFD” embroidered across the front before setting the hat in his chest. The man sat down on the bench and crossed his ankles, looking up at Kyungsoo. He was smiling softly and Kyungsoo noticed that the edge of his lips were upturned like a cat’s. But the thing that Kyungsoo noticed the most was the Lichtenberg figures that stretched across the side of his neck and down his left arm, the snowflake style scars telling Kyungsoo everything he needed to know about how the man died without looking into his eyes. Lightning strike.

“I’m Jongdae, what’s your name?” the man asked.

“Kyungsoo.”

Jongdae nodded and Kyungsoo pushed off from the shore. Jongdae was quiet for a while and Kyungsoo rowed the boat down the river. He could see Jongdae leaning over the edge of the river to stare down at the water. The boat began to tip and Kyungsoo shifted his weight to keep them balanced.

“Be careful.”

The man sat back straight and smiled at Kyungsoo, “Sorry. Why does it smell so bad here?”

“Many of the dead are here, their essence taints the marshes and the waters,” Kyungsoo explained.

The kitten-lipped man scrunched his nose, “Is it going to smell like this in the Underworld too?”

“No. when we pass through to the Underworld, it smells much better. The dead lose their earthly bodies, and as such the stench of the dead leaves as well. Besides, Queen Persephone wouldn’t allow it to smell bad.”

“Oh good, I wouldn’t have been able to handle that.”

Kyungsoo nodded at that and continued to row the boat. He could sense Jongdae fidgeting behind him, so he turned to look at him. The man was fiddling with his fingers, brow furrowed. it was so different from the expression he had had on the banks of the Acheron river, and something about it formed a pit in Kyungsoo’s stomach. Kyungsoo cleared his throat and Jongdae’s head snapped up and the smile was immediately back.

“Do you enjoy this? Being the ferryman?” Jongdae asked.

Kyungsoo cocked his head to the side. No one had ever asked about him when he ferried them across. Sure, some asked his name, but that was about it. All the previous spirits had been so busy thinking about their own deaths that none of them bothered to ask him anything. Not that he could hold it against them, they had just died. If he could die he would probably be the same way.

“I suppose you could say I enjoy it. I like helping people get where they need to go,” he answered.

The boy (yes he may have been a man when he died, but now his face looked so young that Kyungsoo couldn’t help but to call him a boy in his head, a young boy gone from the world too soon, too suddenly) nodded with another smile, but it soon began to fall. Kyungsoo turned away from him. He didn’t feel he had earned the right to look at his sad face. Happiness should be the only emotion on his face, and looking at anything else felt inappropriate, private. He continued to row as the boy became silent once again, and Kyungsoo could feel the air between them still. He pushed through the veil between rivers and heard a gasp behind him. He turned to see Jongdae clutching his chest and looking at him with wide, scared eyes.

“What was that?” Jongdae asked.

“You could feel that?”

Jongdae only looked more confused, “The like, pop, thing that just happened to my chest, yeah I felt that!”

“That was us passing through the veil that separates the living in the dead. We are officially in the Underworld now,” Kyungsoo explained.

Jongdae nodded and rubbed at his chest, but Kyungsoo kept a close eye on him. Never before had a spirit been able to feel the veil as they pass through, only he and the previous Charons could feel it. It was supposed to symbolize how they could pass through at will, but would always feel the force of what they were doing. For Jongdae to feel it… Kyungsoo didn’t really want to think about it. He landed on the shores of the Underworld and paused, thinking about the unusual man he had spent so long with. He was sure he would remember him for at least the next fifteen years.

He held his hand out to the boy, “Time to go Jongdae.”

Jongdae looked at Kyungsoo’s hand, then to the Underworld, then back to his hand. He reached out but just before they touched, he pulled his hand away and clutched it to his chest.

“I don’t want to go,” he whispered.

“You have to Jongdae, I’m sorry, but this is where you belong.”

Jongdae shook his head, “No I don’t. It feels… wrong. I don’t belong there, I want to stay here, on the boat with you.” 

Kyungsoo sighed, “Getting back to the shores of the Acheron won’t bring you back to life, that’s not how it works.”

“That’s not what I want,” Jongdae protested, “I want to stay on the boat and ferry souls from one side to another. I want to stay here.”

Kyungsoo rubbed his temples. He had had people try to bargain with him to send them back to the land of the living, and that may have worked on a previous Charon (particularly Steve that dumb, greedy bastard), but Kyungsoo was one to follow the rules, too his job. But looking into Jongdae’s eyes, so round and sad looking up at him from that uncomfortable wooden bench, he couldn’t help but believe him. He sat down on the wooden bench across from Jongdae and leaned towards him. Spirits couldn’t pass through the realms, and the second they got to the veil, Jongdae would be transported right in front of the judges, where they would judge not only his life but the way he tried to go back to it. He couldn’t very well force Jongdae off the boat, they were only able to offer a helping hand (stupid Steve, ruining things for everyone). Perhaps the only way to force Jongdae to move on would be to take him back through the veil.

“Fine,” Kyungsoo said.

Jongdae squealed and grinned, and this time the smile felt so much more real than the first smile from the Acheron shores. It made something in Kyungsoo’s stomach warm up and tingle, but he pushed that deep down inside as he stood and rowed them away from the shores. They rowed for a while in silence, and it prickled at Kyungsoo’s skin. Having a spirit in his boat while going in this direction felt wrong on so many levels.

‘You have very sad eyes, you know?” Jongdae said.

“Sorry, what?”

“You have sad eyes. Sure, they’re deep and very pretty, but they look sad too. You say you enjoy your job, but I think it would be so lonely. You spend half your time speaking to dead people you’ll never see again, and the other half alone. It makes me sad just thinking about it.”

“Oh,” Kyungsoo said.

No one had ever told him he had sad eyes before, though he figured that none of the spirits he saw bothered to look at them, and he didn’t really have many friends in the Underworld to tell him either. It had never been anything he had thought about. He could the veil coming closer and realized that soon, he would be alone again, and Jongdae would be at the judges being judged for his hubris. He closed his eyes as he pushed through it and felt that pop. Alone again.

“Ow!”

Huh?

He opened his eyes, and Jongdae still sat at the end of his boat, rubbing his chest with his face scrunched in pain.

“Does it hurt every time?” Jongdae asked.

“You… you get used to it,” Kyungsoo answered.

Jongdae was… still here. He was still in his boat, passed through the veil, floating in the Acheron River. Something was wrong, this was not supposed to happen. He should be the only one able to stay on his ferry while passing through the veil. No spirit, no matter how interesting, would be able to do it. Leaving the Underworld took Lord Hades' permission, and that hadn’t happened in almost a millennia. There was no way this should be happening.

“Um, Kyungsoo, we’re here.”

Kyungsoo shook his head of his thoughts to realize that they were indeed at the shores of the river. Jongdae had scooted over on the bench so there was room for the next spirit to sit. The next man was dripping in blood and covered with large gash marks all over his torso, and one large one down his throat. He was garish to look at, and if he could, Kyungsoo may have vomited. He ignored it however and held his hand out to the man. He didn’t really want to touch him, but the only way in or out of the boat was from the touch of the ferryman.

The man stepped into the boat and Kyungsoo awaited his payment. From his side, the man pulled a large knife, a gush of blood following the movement. Kyungsoo hadn’t even noticed the knife at first, and grimaced as the man placed it in his hand, coating his own hand in blood. He placed it in a cloth bag and then into his chest. He hated to admit it, but this wasn’t the first time his payment had been a bloody murder weapon, and he had learned better than to let bloody objects free with all his other things. He wiped his hands on his black robes to clean his hand of the dark red that covered his fingers but tried to see it so the man didn’t see it. The blood was gross sure, but he didn’t want to offend the man.

The man sat close to Jongdae and Kyungsoo was sure that he would be getting out with the man on the other side. People couldn’t handle seeing that much blood and gore, and stay knowing that it could happen again. He pushed off and watched the man interact with Jongdae. He supposed a perk of having Jongdae in the boat would be that he could talk to them instead of him, and just allow him to focus on rowing the boat.

Kyungsoo winced as the man told Jongdae in sharp detail about how his wife had murdered him. About every time the blade had gone into his skin. Kyungsoo could only imagine it and hated the way it made his skin crawl. Jongdae though was frowning and nodding along with the man, rubbing comforting circles onto his back. Of course, Jongdae would hardly be fazed by the gruesome talk, nothing he did had been to Kyungsoo’s predictions yet, so why would now be any different?

Even the crossing of the veil had only made Jongdae rub at his chest and listen to the man talk. Now the man was telling him about the life insurance money that she would probably get and how she had probably run off to Florida with Steve from Accounts Receivable by now (what was it with Steve’s being the worst?). By the time they had reached the shores of the Styx, the man was crying into Jongdae’s shoulder. Luckily, Jongdae had been wearing a black t-shirt, and the blood couldn’t be seen in the fabric.

“It is time to go,” Kyungsoo said.

The man, now finally silent, nodded and wiped at his eyes before allowing Kyungsoo to escort him off the boat. He held his hand out to Jongdae, but the man shook his head.

“You know, a lot of them are going to be like that. Mangled and nasty, bloody too. Death isn’t pretty for most people,” Kyungsoo said.

“I know, but, that doesn’t really bother me, they can’t help it. And plus, I’ve always had a strong stomach.”

Kyungsoo sighed and pushed off from the shore. Eventually, Jongdae would get bored of doing the same thing for days on end, or his stomach would fail him, and he would leave. Kyungsoo had done this job alone for centuries and could continue to do so forever if he felt like it.

“Does everyone remember how they died? Because he remembered that vividly, and I think that would be sad, to remember how your wife murdered you forever,” Jongdae asked.

Kyungsoo shrugged, “Some do, some don’t, I know how they all die and I tell them if they ask, but quite a few don’t. Once they get to the Fields they usually forget in a few centuries, so he won’t have to remember it for too long.”

Jongdae nodded and looked over the water. He traced the fractal scar along his neck, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“How did I die? Are these marks on my neck because of it?” he asked.

“Lightning strike,” Kyungsoo said, “You died instantly and only felt the first shock of pain. Those are Lichtenberg figures. If you had survived they would have faded away, but here they will stay forever.”

Jongdae smiled softly as he traced it again, “That’s pretty badass, actually. It’s kind of a pretty scar, looks kinda like a snowflake. My hyung would love that. You know, I always thought I’d die in a fire.”

“Yeah?” Kyungsoo asked.

Jongdae nodded but didn’t say anything further. Many people had ideas of how they would die, but most people thought or at least hoped that they would die of old age. They would have lived for so long that they simply couldn’t go any longer. Most didn’t assume fire. Of the ways to die, Kyungsoo thought that either drowning or fire would be the worst. Both were just different versions of suffocating but fire had the added horror of your flesh melting from your bones. He didn’t like that the kind-eyed man would think of himself in such a situation. it made his stomach turn.

They stopped at the shore with a soft bump and for the second time in as many minutes, Kyungsoo’s stomach dropped again. Standing at the shore was a little girl with chocolate brown pigtails, a stuffed rabbit clutched tightly in her hands as tears streamed down her face. Kyungsoo hated it when he had to see a child. Not because he hated children, but because if he saw a child it meant they were dead. And they were always either terrified that they had died, or terrified because they couldn’t their parents and a stranger wanted to take them onto his boat.

“Oh no,” Jongdae murmured.

Kyungsoo walked to the little girl and knelt to her eye level, though her eyes were screwed shut, “Hello sweetheart, would you like to get on the boat?”

She gasped out a sob and shook her head, and he could see the death grip she had on the bunny’s arm, “Boat… scary.”

“It’s okay, I’m very good at steering the boat, and I know it’s small, but it’s a very safe boat,” he reassured her.

She opened her eyes, “That’s what daddy said too.”

She had drowned. This little baby had gone out on a boat with her father and drowned. And now he was asking her to get on his boat. But he couldn’t leave her here. All young souls, all children gone too soon, were given a second chance by the judges, a chance to reincarnate and live for longer, to live a better life.

“I know it’s scary, but I need you to get on the boat, it’ll be okay.”

She sniffed, “I know but… scared.”

Jongdae cleared his throat, “Hi honey, I’m Jongdae, what’s your name?”

“Susie.”

“That’s a really pretty name! This is Kyungsoo, he’s my friend. He’s been taking me around in this boat for a little while now, and it’s really safe. I think it would be nice if we could take a ride together, don’t you think?” he asked her.

Jongdae’s voice was higher pitched than normal, the way one does when they talk to children or puppies. His eyes held a small sparkle and his smile was wide and comforting. Baekhyun, the minor god who checked in the souls for Kyungsoo’s line, would say he was shaped like a friend.

The little girl seemed to agree because she finally took Kyungsoo’s hand and got into the boat. It rocked a little as she stepped in, but Jondgae held her shoulders to steady her. She still looked scared as she sat down, but she did so as she clutched tight at Jongdae’s hand. He tried to row off but the boat refused to move.

Payment.

The only thing Susie had was her little stuffed bunny, and he’d be damned if he was going to take that from her. Jongdae looked at him in confusion when the boat didn’t leave and cocked an eyebrow at him. Kyungsoo rubbed his thumb against his first two fingers and hoped that Jongdae would understand. Usually, he would just tell them to get off and leave them, and if Baekhyun managed to sneak them a payment, then so be it. But he couldn’t do that to this little girl. He wouldn't let payment stop her from a second life.

Jongdae made an exaggerated ‘O’ face and nodded. He patted Susie on the shoulder, “Hey Susie your hair is really pretty. Do you want me to put it in a braid?”

Her eyes lit up, “Yes please!”

She sat down on the floor of the boat and let Jongdae begin messing with her hair, “Oh you had three hair ties in your hair!”

“Yeah, one of ‘ems breakin so mama put two in, juss in case!”

Jongdae looked up at Kyungsoo with a smirk, “That was so smart of mama.”

Before he began playing with her hair, Jongdae tossed a blue hair tie to Kyungsoo. It was stretched to hell and he could see the elastic, but it was put in with love from her mother. Payment received.

He put the hairband in the chest and pushed off. Susie didn’t even seem to notice them leaving, content with playing with her bunny while Jongdae ran his hands through her hair. It would stay like that for a while, and Jongdae had put her in many different hairstyles. The little girl was talkative, telling Jongdae all about Kindergarten and her best friend Lilly. Jongdae would make appeasing noises every so often, answering any questions she had, but mostly he just braided and listened. It was sweet and Kyungsoo was so glad that she wasn’t crying anymore.

Jongdae had just finished the fifth braid when they landed at the shore. He rang the bell at the stern of his boat and a kind minor god materialized in front of them. He turned to Susie.

“Hey Susie, we’re here. This is Suho, he’s gonna take you where you need to go. Would you go with Suho?” he asked.

Junmyeon waved at the little girl, and he knew she would. Junmyeon was the guardian of vulnerable children, and they always turned to him in times of need. She nodded and stood, but before she left, she hugged Jongdae tight to her. He patted her back and kissed her forehead when she finally pulled away.

“Goodbye, Mr. Dae. And thank you, Mr. Soo, you’re a very good boat driver,” she said.

Kyungsoo smiled, “Thank you, Susie. Now let’s get you off this boat, huh?”

She nodded and Kyungsoo helped her step out of the boat and Junmyeon grabbed her hand. He waved at Kyungsoo and the two walked off to the Judges.

Kyungsoo let out a deep sigh as they left the shore. He always hated that. Jongdae looked downcast across from him. He knew that the first child spirit was the worst.

“She’ll be okay. Little kids like that always get reincarnated,” Kyungsoo said.

Jongdae beamed at him, “Really? Oh, that’s so good, oh thank goodness. Such a sweet little girl. And I wasn’t lying, her hair was really pretty too.”

Jongdae had chuckled as he said it but it made Kyungsoo think. Did Jongdae have children? Why was he so good with them? It had taken Kyungsoo 122 years to figure out how to stop scaring the children when they saw him, but Jongdae knew instantly. How?

“How did you know how to braid her hair like that?” he asked.

Jongdae smiled wistfully and leaned back in the boat, “My nephew, Jongin, he used to have long hair, and all the little girls in his dance class would beg me to braid their hair when it was my turn to drop him off. I got pretty good at braiding.”

Kyungsoo tried to imagine Jongdae sitting on a bench surrounded by fifteen little girls begging to have their braided as he braided the hair of a little boy sitting in front of him. the internal thought made him smile.

“Cute.”

Jongdae blushed and hid his face in his hands. When they passed through the veil Kyungsoo realized that he hadn’t even asked Jongdae if he wanted to get out. Jongdae hadn’t asked and… Kyungsoo isn’t all that mad. He wasn’t hurting anyone and nobody said he wasn’t allowed to have someone ride along with him.

Stopping at the shore, Kyungsoo could feel an immediate chill. The air around the Acheron River was usually warm, but the cold gripped him strongly. Jongdae shivered in his seat. Kyungsoo looked at the man at the front of the line and flinched. It explained the cold.

This man… this man was evil. He hated the thought of him standing in line behind Susie for so long. He was going to be punished for sure. The things he had seen this man do… pure evil. The man smiled at Jongdae.

“Jongdae, come here,” Kyungsoo said. 

It wasn’t a question or a request, this was a command. Jongdae seemed to recognize it because he moved swiftly, sitting on the bench closest to Kyungsoo without asking any questions. He didn’t want this man anywhere near Jongdae.

He helped the man onto the boat and his hand burned from the cold. The man sat and handed Kyungsoo a syringe. He almost gagged. What kind of sick bastard would use the weapon they had killed so many with as their payment to the Underworld? Disgusting.

He didn’t say anything to the man and began to row. He rowed as fast as he could. He wanted this man out of his boat and he wanted it now. Jongdae rested his head against Kyungsoo’s thigh and he rowed even faster. The weight of Jongdae’s head grounded him to his boat. The man looked like he had died in a car crash, and he figured that Jongdae would have been talking to him. But for some reason, he wasn’t. Kyungsoo appreciated it. He thinks if he heard the man’s voice he really would vomit. 

He made the trip in record time, almost slamming into the shore. The man stood to get out, and Kyungsoo only gave him the minimum touch on the arm to get him out. He didn’t want any more than that. Once the man was out of sight and they were slightly down the river did he let out a breath.

“Are you okay Soo?” Jongdae asked.

Kyungsoo nodded, “That man, he was evil. Wanted him out of my boat.”

“I knew something was wrong. He made me feel gross inside. Thank you for taking me over to this side.”

“Didn’t want him near you. You’re too good to be near that much evil.”

Jongdae blushes again and takes Kyungsoo by the hand. Kyungsoo rows much slower, but Jongdae’s hand is warm in his, and doesn’t really want to let go. Kyungsoo doesn’t feel the pop in his chest as they pass through the veil, and Kyungsoo finds this boat ride to be his most pleasant yet, despite how much slower it is. They land at the shore gently and Jongdae lets go of his hand, fingertips trailing down his palm.

He stood to help an old woman into the boat, and her frail hand held his tight. She sat with a grunt and took her broach from her blouse and handed it to him. The woman seemed content to just look at the water below them and the trees beside them, so Kyungsoo just left her alone. Jongdae returned his head to Kyungsoo’s thigh and Kyungsoo pushed off with a smile. 

They traveled in almost silence, the only sounds were those of his oar through the water and Jongdae’s quiet humming. It was pleasant. Kyungsoo loved those who died of old age. They were usually the ones most content to just sit quietly or to just reminisce on their lives. They talked about grandchildren, or their partners, or of years past when they had been wild and crazy. And this woman, she seemed to just want to sit.

He rowed along, listening to Jongdae’s humming. It was nice humming, and Kyungsoo was sure that Jongdae was probably a beautiful singer. It seemed that everything the younger man did was good, he couldn’t even imagine him not singing well. Jongdae adjusted his position against his thigh and Kyungsoo absentmindedly reached down to ruffle Jongdae’s hair. He stilled his hand, but Jongdae just looked up and smiled at him, so he continued. The strands were soft in between his fingers and Kyungsoo reveled in the allowance of the touch.

They were at the shore before they realized and Kyungsoo helped the old woman off the boat. He turned to Jongdae and held his hand out again.

“It’s time to go Jongdae,” he said.

Jongdae sat up straight, “No! I don’t want to… I thought… it still feels wrong… please, don’t make me leave! I thought we were doing good, please don’t make me leave.”

Tears were forming in Jongdae’s eyes and Kyungsoo could feel his insides scrambling. He didn’t want Jongdae to cry, but he had to leave.

“It was good, we were good but,” he sighed, “the dead rest on Sundays. Spirits cannot physically be in my boat on Sundays, and you can’t come to my house because the second you step off, you’ll be taken to the judges. I’m sorry Jongdae, but this is it.”

The tears finally fell down Jongdae’s cheeks and Kyungsoo rushed to him, wiping them away with shaking touches of his fingertips, “Oh no don’t cry. Oh, sunshine please don’t cry I’m so sorry.”

“I wanted to stay here with you. The thought of being there makes me feel so bad, but being here with you in the boat… it feels right. I don’t want to feel wrong, Kyungsoo,” Jongdae whimpered.

Kyungsoo broke and wrapped Jongdae in a hug, “I’m so sorry. I wish you could stay too, but that’s the rules. I don’t make them, and I can’t change them. I would if I could but I can't.

Jongdae sniffled and held tight to Kyungsoo’s robes before he hiccuped and pulled away. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and smiled a watery grin up at him.

“I’m going to miss being here with you. I wish we could change the rules, but we can’t, can we?” Jongdae said.

Kyungsoo shook his head and wiped one last tear from Jongdae’s face. Jongdae sniffed again and then pressed a long kiss to Kyungsoo’s cheek. The press of Jongdae’s soft lips sent a spark through this body and let out a soft gasp. Jongdae rested his forehead against Kyungsoo’s.

“Thank you for taking me with you, I loved it a lot,” Jondgae murmured.

Jongdae grabbed Kyungsoo’s hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it, before stepping out onto the shore. The second his foot touched the ground he vanished, a faint breeze left behind in his place. Kyungsoo sighed as he anchored the boat and got out. He walked home in a daze, an empty void settling throughout his entire being.

When he got home he got straight into bed, hoping to sleep the sadness away. He slept through the night and through all of Sunday, and yet on Monday, he awoke restless. And sad. Still sad. He sighed and dressed in his robes again. The black seemed to match his mood, and as he walked to the river other gods and goddesses parted like the sea for him. Sometimes having a glowering face had its perks.

He had just reached the river when he stopped mid-step. Someone was in his boat. It was impossible for other beings to be in his boat without the ferryman present. He hustled to shore and his breath caught in his throat as he saw who had managed to get in his boat.

“Jongdae,” he breathed.

And it was. Jongdae was in his boat. He looked different though. He was wearing robes just like Kyungsoo’s own, but his were white with blue detailing, and he looked more solid almost, his skin glowing with a golden aura. Jongdae stood and smiled at him, and Kyungsoo could swear his aura had glown even brighter.

“How…” he trailed off as Jongdae rushed out of the boat and threw himself at him. Kyungsoo caught him and wrapped his arms around his tiny waist. 

Kyungsoo was so sure that he would never see Jongdae, lost forever to the Fields or gods forbid punishment. But Jongdae was here, solid and in his arms, warm against his body. Jongdae pulled away but only enough to look into his eyes.

“Apparently when I was alive I was an exceptionally good firefighter, good enough to get into Elysium. And did you know that if you whine enough, they’ll let you take Elysium with you to wherever you want?”

Kyungsoo shook his head, still trying to process everything he was hearing. Jongdae in Elysium, but why was he here?

“I may or may not have convinced the judges that I would be happiest if my Elysium were in your boat. With you,” Jongdae said. 

“With me?”

Jongdae reached out to touch his face to wipe a tear that Kyungsoo hadn’t even felt drop, “Oh baby, look at you. Are these happy tears, or…”

Kyungsoo nodded frantically, “You want to stay with me… forever?”

“If you’ll have me.”

Kyungsoo grinned and lifted Jongdae into the air, spinning him in circles as Jongdae giggled. He set him down as gently as possible and kissed him. Jongdae kissed him back and Kyungsoo sighed into the kiss. His lips were soft against Kyungsoo's own rough ones and he felt on top of the world. The most beautiful man in the world, the only person to want to know about him, to not be scared off by him and what he did, wanted to stay with him forever.

He pulled away softly and pressed kisses all along Jongdae’s face and neck. Jongdae giggled and allowed it before he finally pulled away. Kyungsoo pouted at him but Jongdae pecked his lips, and he couldn’t pout again for how wide he was smiling.

“C’mon Kyungsoo, isn’t it time for us to go do our job?” Jongdae asked.

Kyungsoo nodded and helped Jongdae into the boat. He grabbed the oar and Jongdae rested his head against his thigh. He took a deep breath and pushed off from the shore. He looked down to see Jongdae smiling up at him, and the empty void inside him was filled with the sunshine of Jongdae’s sweet smile.

**Author's Note:**

> Please feel free to leave me some comments or kudos, I'd love to see what you thought about it!


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